ESPN announces Kendrick Lamar as halftime performer for College Football Playoff title game

If ESPN hopes to build the college football National Championship into a Super Bowl-like spectacle, the first thing it needs is a culturally relevant halftime show. So on Tuesday, the network announced that Grammy-winning, critically acclaimed rapper Kendrick Lamar will perform an offsite show during intermission of the College Football Playoff title game, to be broadcast live on the network. It will be the first ever College Football Playoff National Championship halftime performance.

“In each year of the College Football Playoff, we’ve been able to build upon the experience of the last,” ESPN excecutive Ed Erhardt said in a statement. “This year is a true first for college football – and it makes sense that the hottest performer of the moment, Kendrick Lamar, would usher in this new era for the national championship game.”

Kendrick might not be the safest choice for a halftime performer (He’s not exactly popular with the Fox News crowd), but he’s an exciting artist who’s beloved by the younger audiences networks hope to court. He gives the College Football Playoff National Championship the pop culture cachet ESPN seems to be chasing.

Kendrick will perform not from inside Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the game will be held, but from nearby Centennial Olympic Park in a free, non-ticketed event. The College Football Playoff National Championship will kick off at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, January 8.

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

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Those surveyed by Deloitte averaged three streaming service subscriptions, but many weren't thrilled with the numbers of services they had to subscribe to get what they want. That's worth noting for sports, considering the fragmentation in the sports streaming landscape.

The management services provider for two West Virginia sports books and the state's online betting app is in a dispute with a third-party technology vendor, which means those books won't be able to offer early-round March Madness betting.